Characters from the Histories & Memoirs of the Seventeenth Century

"Characters from the Histories & Memoirs of the Seventeenth Century" by David Nichol Smith is a historical collection written in the early 20th century. The work presents short character studies of notable figures from the 17th century, detailing their personal qualities and historical significance as observed by their contemporaries. This compilation includes perspectives on rulers, politicians, poets, and other influential individuals of the time, shedding light on the narratives that shaped English history during this tumultuous period. The opening of the text establishes the context for the character studies, reflecting on the development of literary portraiture in the 17th century as a means to enhance historical writing. Smith emphasizes that the art of character writing emerged as a response to England's deficiency in historical narratives, gathering a variety of observations from key historical figures like John Milton, Clarendon, and Ben Jonson. The introduction discusses the evolution of character studies, their function in depicting personal traits, and the significant shift in historical recording practices from chronicles to more nuanced representations of human experiences and qualities, setting the stage for the subsequent detailed character sketches. (This is an automatically generated summary.)